Analysis of Seasonal Dynamics of Pine Vole Populations in Two Virginia Orchards

Presently, V. P. I. and S.U. is involved in a three year multi-disciplinary project to study pine and meadow vole ecology, behavior, and control (see additional V.P.I, and S. U. papers in Proc. Fifth East. Pine and Meadow Vole Symposium). In conjunction with this research, a long-term field study has been initiated to collect seasonal data on vole densities, survivorship, and reproduction in two Virginia apple orchards. The use of these data will be fourfold: (1) to gain insight into the dynamics of Virginia vole populations; (2) to act as a reference (or control) for future field experiments involving manipulation of pine and meadow vole populations; (3) to serve as input to a computer model being developed at V.P.I and S.U. (Coyle et a1., 1981); and (4) to allow comparison of our results with other vole population studies. This paper presents some preliminary results after one year of the field study (December 1979 through December 1980) and will mainly concentrate on the pine vole population data